I'm interested in your reaction to the NPR link that I recently sent to you via email. What would it take to create a Carlisle Children's Zone?

For more information about the Harlem Children's Zone check out the link below:http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Archive.aspx

Below is the link to the radio show I was talking about this morning. Click on September 26 Going Big. The book referenced is Paul Tough's Whatever It Takes- Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America. This hardback book is under $20 from Amazon.




After listening to the NPR reports and browsing the HCZ website, it seems that the key to breaking the cycle is changing the way parents approach raising their children. HCZ does this through Baby College where parents reflect on their own parenting techniques and gain exposure to practices that help their children be successful. The problem is widespread in Harlem and the HCZ must try to help thousands of children. To begin something like this in Carlisle, might be easier in some ways. While the problems are similar, I don't think they are as vast. Start with the baby college idea but guarantee support and more parenting classess as the children grow. The first 3 years of a child's life are critical to their overall development and success, but it order to truly break the cycle, parenting classes would have to continue until that child has grown into an adult.
whankes